Ten Lords a Leaping (The Twelve Days of Christmas Book 3)

HISTORICAL: Dr. Stuart Walsingham has been courting Miss Caroline Fitzroy, stepdaughter of a wealthy and well-connected gentleman, for the better part of a year and has finally mustered up the courage to ask for her hand. The charming young doctor who has risen from poverty will need to work very hard to maintain Miss Fitzroy in her comfortable lifestyle. That doesn’t matter to Caroline, however. She is deeply in love with Stuart. They can hardly keep their hands to themselves, and their courtship has been getting very steamy. On the night of the glorious engagement party thrown by Caroline’s Papa, a mysterious gentleman who was dancing with Stuart’s mother collapses and dies! When the stranger’s identity is revealed, Stuart discovers belatedly that he had an uncle – and now has a peerage. Stuart has become the new Earl of Cheshire!

Politics and privilege interfere with matters of the heart in this short English historical romance. The new engagement becomes uncertain once Stuart’s station is raised multifold levels above Caroline’s! The earldom confers not only status and influence, but financial burden and social responsibility. Caroline may be supportive of Stuart’s new title, but his mother is outspoken in her desire for Stuart to marry someone who could bring more monetary stability to Cheshire. Stuart is torn, and Caroline is heartbroken. What is the solution to the lovers’ dilemma? In this straightforward conflict between love and duty, the reader’s anguish on behalf of Caroline’s apparent reversal of fortune is abruptly mended by some shifts in luck and conscience. Perfect for fans of a happy ending!

Joan Lai